


Peninsula Promise

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 07:34:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19146436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: A rewritten version of how Lisa proposed to Louisa, now fitting into Louisa's new story.





	Peninsula Promise

Nerves were nothing new to Lisa, not really. She was a singer, a performer, she was used to performing in front of large crowds of strangers, putting her heart on the line as the songs poured out of her. And yet somehow, this was different. A different kind of nerves, different anxiety, a different reason to be nervous. And really, she’d tried to talk herself out of this anxiety. Louisa would say yes, of course she’d say yes, she loved Lisa, was devoted to her, they’d gotten past any rough patches together and only came out stronger because of it.

And yet, none of the little pep talks she’d given herself last night had managed to completely dispel the anxiety churning in her gut, making her limbs shake, making her lips feel numb. Making her turn one of her rings around and around on her finger. But the latter nervous tick only made things worse, considering what she was looking at. Touching.

Letting go of her hand, Lisa released a shaky breath and looked out the kitchen window. Louisa had already left to train one of her horses a while ago, and then she was attending a hang-out with her friends. That had been Viktor’s idea, which had surprised Lisa when he’d first suggested it. Viktor and Lisa hadn’t seen eye to eye lately, ever since she’d implied that he didn’t know what it was like to lose someone. And then, Louisa had brought them back together, tricking them into talking to each other. But even after that, the doubt had remained. Apparently, that tension had all been in Lisa’s head, though.

“I’ll distract her for the day,” Viktor had said. “You go organise things.”

“Really?” Lisa had asked. “You’re serious?” Viktor had nodded, smiling.

“She’s like a mother to me,” Viktor had said. “I want her to be happy, and you make her happy. And don’t worry, I won’t breathe a word of this to her. I might not see why people want to get married but… if she’s happy, I’m happy.”

“Thank you,” Lisa had said, hugging him tightly. “I’d say I’ll let you know how it goes but I kind of feel like she’s going to post a picture of the ring in the group chat anyway.”

“She will,” Viktor had said. “But I’ll still act surprised.”

Now, Lisa drained the last of her coffee and headed for the front door, the ring box burning a hole in her jacket pocket. She tried not to keep touching it, but there might be a tiny hole in her pocket or it might fall out on the ride there or… And she couldn’t keep it in the house because what if Louisa came home early and found it?

“You look like you’re off to a dental appointment,” said Starshine when Lisa reached the stable where he was still spending time with his mate Smokeeye.

“I’ve never been so nervous in my life,” said Lisa with a shaky laugh. She raked her fingers through her hair, which was worn loose for once, in waves that hung down around her ears. Louisa liked it when Lisa wore her hair down, and, well, today was the day to impress her girlfriend…

“You’ll be fine,” said Starshine with a flick of his tail.

“Easy for you to say, horses don’t get married or anything,” said Lisa. “You just court and mate and have foals and that’s it.”

“And yet, we would gladly marry if given the chance,” said Starshine. “Humans marry their dogs, or so I’ve seen.”

“We’ll see if Louisa gets bitten by wedding fever after today,” said Lisa with a laugh. But she knew that Louisa wanted to get married, she’d discussed it with her. That and there had been how passionate Louisa had gotten about the same-sex marriage debate back home in Australia.

Somehow, Lisa managed to take her hand away from the ring box and instead hold Starshine’s reins as she rode across South Hoof and down to the ferry dock. All she had to do was go to Dundull, buy the mare that she’d picked out, and then get her home, all without bumping into Louisa along the way. Simple. At least Viktor had taken Louisa into Jorvik City for the day, so the group could play laser tag or go bowling or watch a movie or something. Maybe go shopping. And at least Dundull was the first stop on Louisa’s training route, so she’d be well and truly gone by the time Lisa got there. And she was as regular as clockwork with her training route.

Checking her watch as she got off the ferry, Lisa guessed that Louisa must be in Valedale by now. Perfect. Because after Valedale, Louisa would be close to Silverglade Village, the winery, Golden Hills, and the Harvest Counties for the rest of her training route until the very end. Lisa was pretty certain that she’d be able to get the horse and be back home well before that time, fortunately. Just as long as word didn’t get back to Louisa. But even if it did, Lisa bought horses for her girlfriend all the time, Louisa wouldn’t think that there was anything out of the ordinary happening.

For the first time in a long time, Lisa didn’t really take notice of her surroundings as she rode through the tunnel into Mistfall. She was vaguely aware of the grass taking on a darker green hue, of the vague mistiness of the area settling around her, of the wildlife changing and the water being closer.

By the time Lisa rode into Dundull, her heart was in her mouth. She kept looking around, keeping a careful eye out for any sign of her girlfriend. In her nervous state, she’d forgotten to check to see which horse Louisa had taken with her, so any horse could belong to her girlfriend.

“Hey, Lisa!” Rania’s greeting almost made Lisa jump out of her saddle in nervousness. She gasped, a hand to her pounding heart, and looked at the curious blind girl.

“You scared me,” said Lisa with a laugh, surprised that her heart didn’t fall out of her mouth.

“Sorry,” said Rania with a laugh. “I’m just surprised that you’re here.”

“I just, um, wanted to admire the beautiful scenery here,” said Lisa. “Might inspire me for another song, you know?”

“Nice try,” said Rania. “But I can hear your heart pounding and, judging by your breath and the smell of sweat, I’m willing to guess that you’re nervous about something.”

“You caught me,” said Lisa, her shoulders sagging. “I’m… getting something special for Louisa. But you can’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Ooh, a surprise,” said Rania. “Can I help in any way?”

“I’m not sure,” said Lisa, her stomach lurching. She hadn’t planned for this, hadn’t planned on bumping into Rania. “It’s more of a, um…”

“Oh,” said Rania, her eyes growing huge and her face lighting up. “You’re-“

“Yes,” said Lisa quickly. “But not one word.” Rania’s smile only grew.

“You’ll have to tell me how it goes,” said Rania. “Maybe I can drop some hints to my mama.” Lisa laughed.

“Well, someone needs to,” said Lisa. “Anyway, uh, has Louisa been through here yet?”

“Yep,” said Rania, nodding. “You’re in the clear. Good luck.”

“Thanks,” said Lisa. She dismounted Starshine in front of the stables, then walked the short distance over to the stables that held the horses for sale. The Haflinger that looked like Dellingr’s twin with the fluffy, snowy white mane almost seemed to glow in Lisa’s vision.

“Hey, there,” said the woman running the stables. “Can I help you with anything or are you just looking?”

“I’m looking to buy a horse for my girlfriend,” said Lisa. She pointed to the Haflinger. “That one, specifically.”

“Good choice,” said the woman, grinning. “She’s a real beauty, that one.”

“Yeah, almost as beautiful as the woman she’s for,” said Lisa. “How much?”

After paying for the horse and filling out the forms, Lisa was on her way, ponying the new mare beside Starshine. Thankfully, she was gentle, already seeming exactly like Louisa. But Lisa already knew this, of course, having picked out the mare weeks ago for just that reason. And because her thick, fluffy mane could easily hide an engagement ring. And, though Lisa wanted to tie the ring in the horse’s mane already, she held off. It would be only too easy for the ring to fall out, especially since it would only be tied loosely into the mane.

Getting the horse back to South Hoof was nerve-wracking, to say the least. At every turn, Lisa expected to see her girlfriend or one of her friends. But, oddly, Jorvik was pretty quiet today. That was okay, though. Plenty of time for Lisa to set up the paddock at the stable with rose petals and the mare.

Thankfully, Trouble was available to ‘help’ with spreading the rose petals, which he did by running around the paddock with the bag of them caught on the halter that Lisa had put on him. Laughing at him (and recording it on her phone, of course) helped immensely with the nerves, and Lisa felt almost fine by the time she led the mare into the paddock and tied the ring into her mane. But Lisa’s hands still shook and she almost dropped the ring a few times. But at last, it was there, and Lisa took a step back and released a shaky breath. Now, she only had to make one call.

Louisa was surprised, to say the least, when she got the call from Lisa saying that there was a surprise waiting for her at her stables. It wasn’t a special occasion like a birthday or anything, so why had Lisa bought her a horse out of the blue like this? Sure, she’d done it a few times when she’d been trying to make it up to Louisa for disappearing and fighting with her friends, but this was strange. Anxiety clouded Louisa’s thoughts as she rode her horse off the ferry and straight up to the stable where she kept her horses.

“Lisa?” Louisa called once she got there, dismounting her horse at the start of the path to the stables. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?” And she had sounded nervous on the phone, and…

Somehow, Louisa missed the rose petals, her eyes instead going first straight to her girlfriend and then straight to the beautiful fluffy Haflinger that stood beside her.

“Oh,” said Louisa, her anxiety disappearing almost immediately. “Is it our anniversary or something?”

“Yeah, something,” said Lisa with a shrug. She sounded odd, so Louisa looked at her. Lisa cleared her throat. “Uh, I think there’s something in her mane though. You’re gentler than me, maybe you can get it out. Here.” She handed Louisa a comb, and Louisa nodded and walked over to the Haflinger.

“Hey there, girl,” said Louisa, smiling as she petted the mare’s muzzle. She was gorgeous, her eyes a deep brown so like Lisa’s. “Let’s see what’s in your mane, huh?”

But, rather than running the comb through the mare’s mane, Louisa instead ran her fingers through the mane. It was so soft, almost like a cloud (which she now knew the feeling of, having been to that strange place in the sky with all of the rainbows and Mica Stoneground). But then, Louisa’s fingers found the strange object in the strands.

“Here we go,” Louisa murmured. “You’ve got a…” And she stopped, frozen, though her heart pounded as she carefully untangled the ring that had somehow gotten caught in the mare’s mane. She turned, and the tears gathered in her eyes when she saw Lisa on the ground on one knee.

“I had a speech planned but I suddenly can’t talk,” said Lisa, her voice sounding slightly strangled. “Marry me?”

“Yes,” said Louisa, her own voice sounding strange to her ears as she slid the ring onto her finger and helped Lisa to her feet. She fell back against the mare, who didn’t seem to mind too much. Louisa leaned back into the fluffy mare’s coat as Lisa kissed her, suddenly unable to stand.

But Louisa got her strength back when Lisa parted from her for air, and her fingers tangled in Lisa’s hair as she kissed her again. The gems on the ring, almost making a rainbow, sparkled in the sunlight, glinting as the ring had in the Haflinger’s mane.

“Oh, it’s so good to hear you say that,” said Lisa, shaking as she held her new fiancée in her arms. “I mean, I knew you were probably going to say yes but… it’s different when you’re asking.”

“Of course I’d say yes,” said Louisa, grinning, tears spilling down her cheeks. “What happened in Australia made me realise that I wanted to get married more than I ever expected. And now I can. Even though I want to get married in Jorvik, which I feel kind of bad about but-“ She cut herself off, closing her eyes and just grinning.

“You can tell your friends whenever you want,” said Lisa. “And we can start planning whenever we want, it’s all up to you. I’m willing to wait for you. Like you waited for me whenever I’d disappear.”

“I want to just enjoy this moment for a bit with you,” said Louisa, her insides still bubbling over with excitement. “If that’s okay?”

“It’s more than okay,” said Lisa, giving her a kiss. “Besides, you still have to choose a name for this horse.”

“Of course you’d get me a horse for an engagement gift,” said Louisa with a laugh that was half a sob.

“When in Rome,” said Lisa with a shrug. Louisa only grinned at her and kissed her again. For the first time, she felt like she was exploding with rainbows. With happiness. Whichever was responsible for her meeting Lisa, be it fate or Aideen or just mere coincidence, she wanted to thank them a thousand times. Because Lisa was The One. She knew that, deeply and intimately. Just like she knew that Jorvik was her home now, and that Goldmist was her Soul Steed.


End file.
